2001 Philadelphia Eagles season

Last updated

2001 Philadelphia Eagles season
Owner Jeffrey Lurie
General manager Andy Reid
Head coach Andy Reid
Offensive coordinator Rod Dowhower
Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson
Home stadium Veterans Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st NFC East
PlayoffsWon Wild Card Playoffs
(vs. Buccaneers) 31–9
Won Divisional Playoffs
(at Bears) 33–19
Lost NFC Championship
(at Rams) 24–29
Pro Bowlers QB Donovan McNabb
OT Tra Thomas
DE Hugh Douglas
LB Jeremiah Trotter
CB Troy Vincent
FS Brian Dawkins
PK David Akers
TE Chad Lewis

The 2001 Philadelphia Eagles season was the franchise's sixty-ninth season in the National Football League, and the third under head coach Andy Reid.

Contents

The team made the postseason for the second consecutive time.

Background

After defeating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wildcard round for the second year in a row, and the Chicago Bears in the divisional round, the Eagles advanced to the NFC Championship for the first time in twenty-one years, but lost 29–24 to the St. Louis Rams. The Rams advanced to the Super Bowl, but were unable to stop the New England Patriots, losing 20–17.

This was the first of four consecutive NFC East titles for the Eagles. It was also the first of five Conference Championship game appearances for the Eagles with Donovan McNabb as starting quarterback and Andy Reid as head coach.

Offseason

Draft

2001 Philadelphia Eagles draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
125 Freddie Mitchell   WR UCLA
255 Quinton Caver   LB Arkansas
363 Derrick Burgess   DE Ole Miss
4121 Correll Buckhalter   RB Nebraska
5147 Tony Stewart   TE Penn State
5155 A.J. Feeley   QB Oregon
      Made roster        Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Staff

2001 Philadelphia Eagles staff

Front office

  • Chairman/Chief Executive Officer – Jeffrey Lurie
  • President – Joe Banner
  • Executive vice president of football operations – Andy Reid
  • Director of player personnel – Tom Heckert
  • Director of college scouting – Marc Ross
  • Director of pro personnel – Scott Cohen

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

[1]

Roster

Philadelphia Eagles 2001 final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

Practice squad

rookies in italics
53 active, 4 inactive, 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueRecap
1September 9 St. Louis Rams L 17–20 (OT)0–1 Veterans Stadium Recap
2September 23at Seattle Seahawks W 27–31–1 Husky Stadium Recap
3September 30 Dallas Cowboys W 40–182–1Veterans Stadium Recap
4October 7 Arizona Cardinals L 20–212–2Veterans Stadium Recap
5 Bye
6October 22at New York Giants W 10–93–2 Giants Stadium Recap
7October 28 Oakland Raiders L 10–203–3Veterans Stadium Recap
8November 4at Arizona Cardinals W 21–74–3 Sun Devil Stadium Recap
9November 11 Minnesota Vikings W 48–175–3Veterans Stadium Recap
10November 18at Dallas Cowboys W 36–36–3 Texas Stadium Recap
11November 25 Washington Redskins L 3–136–4Veterans Stadium Recap
12November 29at Kansas City Chiefs W 23–107–4 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
13December 9 San Diego Chargers W 24–148–4Veterans Stadium Recap
14December 16at Washington Redskins W 20–69–4 FedExField Recap
15December 22at San Francisco 49ers L 3–139–5 3Com Park Recap
16December 30 New York Giants W 24–2110–5Veterans Stadium Recap
17January 6at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–1311–5 Raymond James Stadium Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 6

The Eagles were able to break a nine-game losing streak against the Giants by winning this game. James Thrash caught the winning TD from Donovan McNabb in the fourth quarter.

Team1234Total
Eagles003710
Giants36009

[2]

Standings

NFC East
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(3) Philadelphia Eagles 1150.688343208W2
Washington Redskins 880.500256303W2
New York Giants 790.438294321L2
Arizona Cardinals 790.438295343L1
Dallas Cowboys 5110.313246338L1

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueRecap
Wild CardJanuary 12, 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6)W 31–91–0 Veterans Stadium Recap
DivisionalJanuary 19, 2002at Chicago Bears (2)W 33–192–0 Soldier Field Recap
NFC ChampionshipJanuary 27, 2002at St. Louis Rams (1)L 24–292–1 Trans World Dome Recap

Wild Card

NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 31, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Buccaneers36009
Eagles3147731

at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Game information
  • Scoring
    • TB – field goal Gramatica 36 TB 3–0
    • PHI – field goal Akers 26 Tie 3–3
    • PHI – Lewis 16 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 10–3
    • TB – field goal Gramatica 32 PHI 10–6
    • PHI – Staley 23 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 17–6
    • TB – field goal Gramatica 27 PHI 17–9
    • PHI – Buckhalter 25 run (Akers kick) PHI 24–9
    • PHI – Moore 59 interception return (Akers kick) PHI 31–9

Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw for 194 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 54 yards, as Philadelphia dominated Tampa Bay from start to finish. Bucs quarterback Brad Johnson was intercepted four times, twice by Damon Moore. It was the second consecutive season in which Philadelphia eliminated Tampa Bay from the playoffs during the wild card round, and two days later, Buccaneers coach Tony Dungy was fired.

On the Eagles first drive of the game, Buccaneers safety Dexter Jackson intercepted a pass from McNabb and returned it nine yards to the Eagles 36-yard line, setting up a 36-yard field goal from Martín Gramática. But McNabb made up for his mistake with a 39-yard run on third down and 5 on Philadelphia's ensuing possession

Divisional round

NFC: Philadelphia Eagles 33, Chicago Bears 19

Philadelphia Eagles vs. Chicago Bears – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Eagles6771333
Bears077519

at Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois

Game information
  • Scoring
    • PHI – field goal Akers 34 PHI 3–0
    • PHI – field goal Akers 23 PHI 6–0
    • CHI – Merritt 47 run (Edinger kick) CHI 7–6
    • PHI – Martin 13 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 13–7
    • CHI – Azumah 39 interception return (Edinger kick) CHI 14–13
    • PHI – Staley 6 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 20–14
    • CHI – field goal Edinger 38 PHI 20–17
    • PHI – field goal Akers 40 PHI 23–17
    • PHI – field goal Akers 46 PHI 26–17
    • PHI – McNabb 5 run (Akers kick) PHI 33–17
    • CHI – Safety, Landeta ran out of end zone PHI 33–19

The Bears surprised everyone by finishing atop the NFC Central with a 13–3 record behind quarterback Jim Miller. But after the Eagles jumped to a 6–0 lead, Miller was taken out of the game in the second quarter with a separated shoulder. Although Miller's replacement, Shane Matthews, led the Bears to a touchdown (a 47-yard reverse by Ahmad Merritt), and Jerry Azumah's 39-yard interception return briefly put the Bears back in the lead early in the second half, the Eagles controlled most of the rest of the game. Matthews threw for only 66 yards and was intercepted twice. Meanwhile, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another touchdown.

The Eagles controlled the first quarter, scoring with two field goals by David Akers while holding the Bears to 25 offensive

NFC Championship

NFC: St. Louis Rams 29, Philadelphia Eagles 24

Philadelphia Eagles vs. St. Louis Rams – Game summary
Quarter1234Total
Eagles3140724
Rams1039729

at Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri

Game information
  • Scoring
    • STL – Bruce 5 pass from Warner (Wilkins kick) STL 7–0
    • PHI – field goal Akers 46 STL 7–3
    • STL – field goal Wilkins 27 STL 10–3
    • PHI – Staley 1 run (Akers kick) Tie 10–10
    • STL – field goal Wilkins 39 STL 13–10
    • PHI – Pinkston 12 pass from McNabb (Akers kick) PHI 17–13
    • STL – field goal Wilkins 41 PHI 17–16
    • STL – Faulk 1 run (Two-point conversion failed) STL 22–17
    • STL – Faulk 1 run (Wilkins kick) STL 29–17
    • PHI – McNabb 3 run (Akers kick) STL 29–24

The Eagles had a 17–13 lead at halftime, and had not allowed more than 21 points per game during the season and playoffs. But the Rams roared back thanks to Kurt Warner completing two-thirds of his passes for 212 yards and Marshall Faulk's 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns to earn their second trip to the Super Bowl in three years.

Early in the first quarter, Donovan McNabb fumbled while being sacked by defensive end Leonard Little, and Brian Young recovered for the Rams at the Philadelphia 20-yard line. Five plays later, Warner threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce. Philadelphia responded with an 11-play, 50-yard drive, featuring a 20-yard run by Duce Staley, that ended with a 46-yard field goal by David Akers. Rams receiver Yo Murphy returned the ensuing kickoff 43 yards to his team's own 42-yard line before Warner completed a 20-yard pass

Awards and honors

References

  1. "Employee Directory". 2001 Official Media Guide. Philadelphia Eagles. p. 6.
  2. Pro-Football-Reference.com